A contestant from the La Vega province was crowned the new Miss Dominican Republic Universe (Miss República Dominicana Universo). The contest is held in Santo Domingo which decides who will represent the Dominican Republic in the Miss Universe pageant to be held in December of 2012.

Carlina Duran Baldera was crowned by last years winner Dalia Fernández in the Jaragua Hotel in Santo Domingo on April 17th, 2012. (more…)

This weekends Dominican Republic celebrity sightings include Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian who were spotted in La Romana over the weekend. The Kardashians were joined by Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner. (more…)

It’s party time again in La Vega Dominican Republic. While it always kind of seams like there is a party going on, the month of February brings it to new heights. Each weekend during the month of February there will be parties going on throughout most of the Dominican Republic but the most famous area is Carnival Vegano in Le Vega.

The carnival is known for its costumes and in particular the masks. Groups of people spend month creating elaborate costumes called “diablos cojuelos” , or Devils with the competition centering around who can create the most grotesque masks.

Part of the celebration include “vejigas”. Originally dried cow bladder but now can be made out of almost anything similar. These are used to whip people in the streets. (more…)

Part of the upcoming action and suspense movie “The Truth” was filmed in Santo Domingo last Monday. Some of the actors and actresses you might have seen in town were Eva Longoria, Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Kim Coates, Deborah Kara Unger, Bostick Devon, Steven Bauer and Kevin Durand. (more…)

Teresa Giudice of the reality show “Real Housewives of New Jersey” was spotted vacationing in the Dominican republic recently. Apparently not everyone here is a fan of the star, during a bar room brawl started by Guidice spraying champagne on other patrons in the bar she was punched in the face.

After she was punched, of course her husband got into the fight and it continued to escalate and eventually involve a large number of people in the bar. In the end 8 people were arrested including Joe and Teresa Giudice.

This does bring up a good travel tip. Something to think about as you are visiting the DR or vacation. (more…)

Dominican Republic beauty pageant contestants – Miss DR
The new Miss Dominican republic will be crowned tonight from a group or 36 candidates.
A large number of Dominican Republic provinces are represented including: (more…)

In most cases the Dominican Republic celebrity watch finds the stars visiting the DR beaches or checking out the DR nightlife. In this case though we find a star doing humanitarian relief. Angelina Jolie, goodwill envoy for the United Nations, was in Haiti Tuesday the 8th 2011 visiting Haitian Children in Port-au-Prince. This visit followed a visit on the 7th to the Dario Contreras trauma hospital in Santo Domingo treating another group of Haitian children.

As part of her visit to the Dominican Republic Mrs. Jolie met with the Dominican Republic’s President Leonel Fernandez.
On August 27 of 2001 Mrs, Jolie was named the UN Goodwill Ambassador and has since visited various locations like Kosova, Nambia, Kenya, Thailand, Colombia and Ecuador.

Angelina Jolie and her also famous husband Brad Pit founded the Jolie/Pit Foundation in 2006. Their foundation donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders to help in relief efforts after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

The Dominican Republic is increasingly becoming the vacation destination of choice for many Hollywood stars. Known for its beautiful white sand beaches and year around good weather, the DR is taking it’s place as one of the Caribbean “Hot Spots”.

One of the latest celebrity sightings is “Dancing with the Stars” Cheryl Burke. Mrs Burke was recently seen on the Punta Cana beaches and allowed the paparazzi a photo shoot. You can follow this link for some of the pictures. (more…)

When most people think of the Dominican Republic, they think of a tropical island with a 1,000 miles of white sand beaches. Many of which are picture perfect with picturesque palm trees hanging over the beach, beautiful crystal clear water. You know the type of thing you see in the post cards.

While this is what makes up much of the Dominican Republic many people don’t think of what Dominicans have done within the USA. There are approximately 1.2 million Dominican residents in the US.

They are primarily on the East Coast. You will find a large population in New York, New Jersey, Florida and other eastern states. While you don’t find to many Dominicans among the general population on the west coast, it is interesting to see how many people with Dominican heritage make up Hollywood.

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